


find the melody (‘cause you taught me how)

by lavi0123



Series: wake that spirit, i wanna hear it [4]
Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Aang (Avatar)-centric, Aang Week 2021, Gen, Prompt 4: Dance, also Pasang is the third monk in the room who tells Aang he's the Avatar, but i'm still a bit proud of it!, he's not super relevant but he's there, no beta we die like lu ten, nowhere is that more evident than in this oneshot XD, yeah this one is a little more rushed than the others :/
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-24
Updated: 2021-02-24
Packaged: 2021-03-15 13:54:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,249
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29684976
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lavi0123/pseuds/lavi0123
Summary: Aang is a born dancer.All airbenders are in a sense, but Aang takes to it like a fish to water.Or: Aang has grown up dancing since he could walk. So, in a pinch, of course he turns to dance to fix things.
Relationships: Aang & Fire Nation Citizen(s) (Avatar), Aang & Gyatso (Avatar), Aang/Katara (Avatar)
Series: wake that spirit, i wanna hear it [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2175876
Comments: 4
Kudos: 32





	find the melody (‘cause you taught me how)

**Author's Note:**

> Title taken from the same song as the others (feels perfunctory to say that at this point, but I'm saying it anyway)

Aang is a born dancer.

All airbenders are in a sense, but Aang takes to it like a fish to water. When he first learns to walk, he doesn’t stop there–he twirls around, skips everywhere he goes, and even when his feet aren’t moving, his body is always swaying to the beat of a song only he can hear.

He doesn’t take to meditation as quickly as the other children, and this is a point of concern for the monks until one of them finds Aang and Gyatso meditating together in the middle of the day, in the courtyard of the Temple, still as statues. Once, twice, thrice, until it becomes clear that it’s a routine. Still, despite his thirst for knowledge, anyone who looks at him can tell that he’d much rather dance around the Temple than sit still for a long time.

The monks don’t mind this, at first–freedom is the core tenant of airbending philosophy, and for Avatar Aang to embrace that early on is not such a terrible thing.

The trouble comes after Aang has earned his mastery tattoos, years prior to it being expected of him.

“The Avatar must know his destiny.”

“He’s a child!”

“He has mastered his element, Gyatso. Tashi is right, we can put it off no longer.”

“Every day there is talk of Firelord Sozin plotting revenge. No one knows what that means, but...it means we need Aang. We need the _Avatar_.”

Aang, of course, has found a much more interesting use for his bending–riding a ball of air around in a move he calls the air scooter. The acolytes clamor him to teach them, and he’s all too happy to do so.

“Okay, here goes,” one of the acolytes murmurs, waving his hand and creating a ball of air. But when he tries to climb on it, the ball dissipates, and he slips off with a grunt.

Aang smiles patiently. “You kinda have to balance on it like it’s a top.” Creating his air ball, he demonstrates centering his balance, such that no matter how the air ball moves, Aang remains steady.

“Where’d you learn that trick, Aang?”

“I made it up,” he explains proudly.

“Wow!”

It warms his heart to hear them talk about his invention like this. He was so afraid that becoming a master so young would change things, but...it feels almost silly now. Of course his friends would never abandon him just because he mastered airbending quickly.

When he’s standing in the meeting in front of the elder monks, shuffling in place (even now, he can’t still his feet), he tries to hold on to that warm feeling.

“How do you know it’s me?” He tries. _Surely there must be some mistake. I can’t be the Avatar!_

Monk Tashi brings out his toys and explains, “The toys you picked were the four Avatar relics, Aang. These items belonged to Avatars past–your own past lives.”

“I just chose them because they seemed fun,” he tries.

“You chose them because they were _familiar_.”

 _A spiritual connection._ Aang knows about spirits, has had a connection to them ever since he was young–perks of being an airbender...and apparently the Avatar, too.

_Spirits, I can’t do this._

“Normally we would have told you of your identity when you turned sixteen,” Gyatso says softly, looking so very guilty, “but there are troubling signs. Storm clouds are gathering.

“I fear war may be upon us, young Avatar.”

_Young Avatar? No...no, I’m–_

“We need you, Aang.”

His feet are still, his posture taut, for the first time in his life.

* * *

Aang is a born rebel.

No one really sees it coming–despite being exuberant, he always comes off as a goody-two-shoes. And he is...about most things.

The thing about Aang is that he always gets dragged into harebrained schemes, makes a mess of things, and has to beat a hasty retreat. Which is fine, he doesn’t mind that. He just wishes for once that the universe would stop _dragging_ him into things and let him _choose_.

Taking the name Kuzon feels strange but also natural. He didn’t share a lot of facial features with his friend, but he always wondered if they had the same hair. Now, Aang supposes with a bitter smile, he knows for a fact that they did.

He doesn’t intend on causing any mischief, really. He only plans on going to school for a few days and then fleeing with the Gaang as soon as opportunity presents itself. Even if he makes friends, he can’t...he can’t get too close to anyone. It’ll hurt too much when he has to leave.

Of course, Aang has never been good at detachment, of all things.

“Kuzon!”

He startles, then smiles sheepishly. “I know, I know. I’m a terrible tsungi hornist.”

“No, child.” The music teacher shakes his head, motioning to Aang’s feet. “That...hullabaloo going on with your feet. Is that a nervous disorder?”

“I was just dancing!” His smile drops. “You dance in the homeland, right?”

He knows the answer even before Shoji shakes his head, but that confirmation makes his heart sink.

“ _Dancing_ is not conducive to a proper learning environment,” the teacher tuts. “Young people must have rigid discipline and order.”

“But what about expressing yourself?” Aang protests. _The monks never stopped me from dancing, even after I mastered airbending._

The teacher rattles off something about patriotism and ends with, “If you must, you may march in place quietly next time the urge hits you.”

Aang looks around at the other students, sees their straight backs and iron gazes, the exhaustion they can’t quite conceal, and makes a decision.

“You wanna do _what_?”

In hindsight, the dance party could’ve been better planned. But Aang can’t bring himself to regret a single moment as he grabs Katara’s hand and drags her to the center.

“Aang,” Katara murmurs, blushing. “Everyone’s looking at us.”

“Don’t worry about them.” Aang grins. “It’s just you and me right now.”

Katara, as it turns out, is _also_ a born dancer.

It shouldn’t surprise him, since she’s a waterbender, and he’s seen and done enough waterbending to know how fluid those motions are. His dancing is part of the reason he picked it up so quickly, anyway, so it makes sense that the same (or reverse) is true for her.

They walk in a circle with arms touching, then hold hands and twirl around each other. Aang kicks over her head, she ducks, and they twirl.

They flip onto their hands, flying through the air, over and over, nearly giggling from how dizzy they are, then Aang grabs Katara’s hand and dips her, both of them grinning wildly.

Even when everything falls to pieces and they have to flee, Aang doesn’t regret it.

“Way to go, dancy pants!” Toph cheers, punching him on the shoulder. “I think you really _did_ help those kids, you taught them to be free.”

“I don’t know,” Aang murmurs, blushing. “It was just a dance party.”

“Well, that was some dance party, Aang.” Katara’s smiling so brightly, then she kisses him on the cheek, and warmth floods his cheeks.

Toph and Katara are right, he knows. He taught those kids a lesson, and he can only hope they won’t forget it. In a Nation so determined to suppress, the best resistance is being _free_.

_Maybe that’s how we win. And maybe...maybe that’s how I make it up to them._

**Author's Note:**

> Aang dancing from the moment he could walk is one of my headcanons. It just makes SENSE, especially given how light he is on his feet!
> 
> I kinda wanted to explore how his dancing is tied to his emotional state–so he'll dance when working off nervous or excited energy, but when he's scared or threatened, he'll be completely still (or when he's meditating, when his mind is completely at peace).


End file.
